Spring making apparatus



Jan. 18, 1938. D. G. MOR;GAN 2,105,951

SPRING MAKING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 5, 1955 a 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY mx/q H/5 A TTORNE Y Jan. 18, 1938. D. G. MORGAN SPRING MAKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 5, 1935 V w v INVENTOR.

HI ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 18, 1938 2,105,951 SPRING MAKING APPARATUS David G. Morgan, San Francisco, Calif., assignor of one-fourth to Noble Mahlmann and onefourth to Edward J.

Calif.

OLeary, San Francisco,

Application February 5, 1935, Serial No. 5,018

2 Claims.

My invention relates to spring making apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for making leaf springs for vehicles, such as automobiles.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide means for simplifying and speeding up the various operations involved in the manufacture of leaf springs.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means for cutting the hot bars into blanks, and for punching the blanks.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of my invention.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to this disclosure of species of my invention, as I may adopt variant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claims.

rollers.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the bed of the cutting and punching machine taken in a plane indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 1, and illustrates details of the bar stop and punch die positioning means.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the bed of the cutting and punching machine.

In terms of broad inclusion, the apparatus embodying my invention comprises means for cutting into blanks the bars from which the springs are to be made; means for feeding the hot bars past the cutting means; means for punching the blanks; means for adjustably positioning the punching means longitudinally of the blank being cut; and means dependent on the length of bar fed past the cutting means for actuating the cutting and punching means.

In greater detail, the machine comprises a frame 24 having an opening 26 at one end through which the hot bars may be fed into the machine.

This feeding is effected by a pair of drive rollers 21, the lower of which is positively driven and the upper of which is mounted for movement toward and away from the lower roller.

lever 3 I.

The upper roll 21 is normally held away from the lower roller by a spring 32 connected to the end of the lever 3|.

After a heated bar is withdrawn from the furnace, one end is placed on the lower drive roller 21. When it is desired to feed the bar for- 5 ward the operator brings down the handle 3| to grip the bar between the rollers. This causes the lower roller to frictionally engage the, bar and drive the latter. At any time it is desired to stop movement of the bar the operator merely 10 has to release the handle 3|.

The means for cutting the bar or strip into blanks comprises a cutting die 33 mounted on the bed of the machine adjacent the drive rollers 21. As shown in Figure 1 the die is supported by a block 34 slidably mounted transversely of the bed on a frame member 36. The upper part 31 of the'cutting die is carried by a block 38 slidably mounted in a reciprocating head 39. By this arrangement the dies operate to cut the .20 bar or strip when the head 39 moves downwardly.

As better shown in Figure 4, the die block 34 is provided with a handle 41 by which the block may be moved transversely across the bed of the machine. The block 34 preferably carries a pair of different shaped cutting dies 33; one for cutting a square ended spring and the other for cutting a diamond pointed spring. The complementary dies 31 on the upper die block 38 30 are shifted simultaneously with the positioning of the lower dies. This is accomplished by an upright arm 42 secured to the lower die block and slidably connected with the upper block, so that the blocks may be adjustably positioned simultaneously, while at the same time permitting verticalmovement of the upper dies.

Reciprocating head 39 is operated by a suitable crank shaft mechanism 43 designed to bring the head down and then return it to an upper position of rest, in accordance with usual punch press operation. The drive mechanism for the reciprocating head 39 may be operated from a foot treadle 44 connected with the clutch 46 of the drive mechanism by a rod 41. This manually operated control is used to give the diamond shape to the leading end of the bar. That is, a new bar being fed into the machine is stopped when the forward end overlies the cutting die 33. at which time the foot treadle 44 is depressed to actuate the reciprocating head 39 and cut the diamond shape on the leading end of the bar.

Means are provided for automatically operating the head 39 during the subsequent cutting of the strip or bar into blanks, and means are also provided for adjustably controlling the length of the blanks being cut, it being understood of course that some spring leaves are of different lengths than others. As best shown in Figure 4, a pair of longitudinally extending plates 48 and 49 are provided along the bed of the machine. These plates provide supports for the bar as the latter is fed through the machine. The plate 48 is fixed and is supported at one end by a suitable block 5| and at the outer end by a block 52. The outboard supporting block 52 is mounted on an extension 53 of the machine frame.

The other plate 49 is slidably mounted on the supporting blocks 5| and 52. As shown in Figure 1 the outer end of the plate 49 terminates in a rod 54 slidable through the block 52 and is provided with an encircling spring 56 compressed between the end of the plate and the supporting. block.- This spring urges the plate toward its normal position. A stop lever 51 is slidably and pivotally mounted on the fixed plate 48 on a suitable bar 58 supported at the ends of theplate. Thus the stop may be moved to any desired position along the plates.

As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, a plurality of lugs 59 are provided along the movable plate 49. These lugs may be set in selected positions and locked by means of bolts 6| slidably engaging a T-slot 62 in the heavier forward edge of the plate 49. By setting these lugs in predetermined spaced positions, the stop lever 51 may be quickly set in one of several predetermined positions, in each of these predetermined positions the stop lever will be spaced a certain predetermined distance from the cutting-die 33 located at the forward end of the machine.

Referring again to Figure 1, a fixed lug 63 is provided on the bottom of the slidable plate 49 adjacent the clutch operating rod 41. A complementary lug 64 is secured to the rod under the lug 63 so that when the plate 49 moves to the right the rod 41 is forced downwardly to actuate the reciprocating mechanism. Both lugs are provided with complementary tapered surfaces so that the action in pressing down the rod 41 is'smooth.

With this structure in mind it will be seen that a bar or strip may be fed into the machine until the leading end strikes the stop 57. I When this happens the operator controlling the feed rollers by his pressure on the handle 3| carefully feeds the bar slightly further ahead until the reciprocating mechanism operates to cut the strip. The blank thus formed may then be removed from the machine, so that an additional length of strip may be fed into the machine to out another blank. As shown in Figure 4 the cutting die 33 is designed to simultaneously shape both the trailing and leading ends of the strip material.

Means are also provided for punching the hole in the center of the blank simultaneous with the cutting operation, and means are provided for adjustably positioning the punching means so that the hole may be centered for different lengths of the blanks. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, a carriage 66 is movably mounted along the bed of the machine by supporting runners 67. The upper face of the carriage lies substantially flush with the bed and is provided with a groove for slidably receiving the enlarged portion of the plate 49. As shown in Figure 3 the plates 48 and 49 slidably rest on the surface of the carriage, so that the latter may be shifted relative to the plates.

As also best shown in Figure 3, the carriage 66 is provided with asocket 68 for receiving a punching die 69. A passage 1| is also provided through the carriage for dropping out the punchings. The punching die 69 is located between the plates 48 and 49 so that it underlies the strip being fed through the machine. A complementary punching die 72 is provided on the under side of a block 13 which is slidably mounted on the reciprocating head 39. This block is mounted for movement with the carriage by a strap 14 secured to the carriage and slidably connected with the block. By this arrangement the upper die block 73 will. be shifted along the head 39 when the carriage is moved along the bed of the machine, while at the same time the block 13 may reciprocate vertically with respect to the carriage.

The position of the carriage and the punching dies carried thereby is changed by means of a gear wheel 16 meshed with a rack Tl provided on the under side of one of the runners 67. The gear is rotated by a hand wheel 18 mounted on the outer end of the gear shaft 19. A plurality of positioning lugs 8| are adjustably mounted on the periphery of the hand wheel by suitable bolts 82 slidably engaging a groove 83 in the wheel. A spring pressed pin 84 is slidably mounted in a bracket 86 provided on the front face of the carriage, and is arranged to snap into the sockets provided by the lugs 8 By this arrangement the carriage may be shifted along the bed of the machine, and held in a selected position of adjustment by the locking pin 84.

The positioning lugs 8| are adjustably set in spaced positions about the periphery of the hand wheel 18 in accordance with the positions of the lugs 59 on the plate 49. As shown in Figurel the lug 8| with which the pin 84 is engaged is set so that the punching dies 69 and 12 are positioned half-way between the cutting die 33 and the stop 51. The other lugs 8| on the wheel 18 are arranged to position the ptuiching dies cenpositions of the stop 51. For example, if the stop is moved to the next position toward the left of the position shown in Figure 1, then the hand wheel is turned clockwise to engage the pin 84 with the next lug 8|.

Of course it is understood that the lug 51 moves slightly to the right before the reciprocating mechanism is operated to cut the strips. Consequently the carriage is arranged to position the punching dies midway between the cutting die 33 and the position of' the stop 51 when the reciprocating mechanism is actuated. When the blank is taken from the machine it is properly shaped at both ends and is also provided with the desired hole centrally of the ends. The clip holes of the carriage for centering the end of the blank over the die 81. Thus when the operator takes the blank from the bed of the machine he inserts an end of the blank between the outside punching dies, so that the next time the reciprocating head operates the end hole is punched.

I claim:

1. A spring making machine comprising a bed for supporting a strip from which springs are to be made, means for feeding the strip over the bed, means for cutting the strip to form a blank, a slidable frame extending longitudinally of the bed, means responsive to movement of said frame for actuating the cutting means, an adjustable stop on said frame and positioned in the path of movement of the strip, whereby engagement of the moving strip with the stop shifts the frame to actuate the cutting means, and setting means on the frame for holding the stop in a selected position of adjustment to effect cutting of the strip into a blank of predetermined length.

2. A spring making machine comprising a bed for supporting a strip from which springs are to be made, means for feeding the strip over the bed, means for cutting the strip to form a. blank, a stop having a plurality of positions of adjustment and mounted on the bed in the path of of the several positions of adjustment of the 10 stop.

DAVID G. MORGAN. 

